Thursday, September 8, 2016

The Optical Internetworking Forum (OIF), in partnership with the Open Networking Foundation (ONF), will host a global Software-Defined Networking (SDN) Transport Application Programming Interface (T-API) interoperability demonstration in the fall of 2016.

OIF said that one main focus of the global demonstration is the notification interface – the means for notifying applications that congestion is being observed, triggering moving around of traffic and addition of capacity. Additional use cases based upon the API standards will be clarified during the testing and defined through OIF implementation agreements to provide a common set of requirements.

Consulting carriers include Orange and TELUS. Academic and/or research institution participants include China Academy of Telecommunication Research (CATR) and Centre Tecnològic de Telecomunicacions de Catalunya (CTTC).

“In the modern operating environment, carriers need to dynamically move capacity to handle quickly changing traffic demands,” said Jonathan Sadler of Coriant and the OIF’s technical committee vice chair and acting networking interoperability chair. “The APIs that are being tested create a new breed of applications. Like so many of the interoperability agreements developed by the OIF, demand from carriers continues to drive the technical direction of the Forum.”

“ONF and the OIF are united in our goal of moving these technical advances into the market for the benefit of network operators and their users,” said Dan Pitt, executive director of the Open Networking Foundation. “We are pleased to extend our longstanding collaboration with the OIF on T-API, leveraging OIF’s specialized optical expertise, and these demonstrations inspire operators and vendors alike to accelerate development and deployment.”

Google will acquire Apigee (NASDAQ: APIC) for $17.40 per share in cash, for a total value of approximately $625 million.

Apigee's Edge API platform helps enterprises to build mobile and digital initiatives using APIs, apps and data. Apigee Insights delivers big data predictive analytics. Apigee says that when used together, its APIs and predictive analytics can create an adaptive cycle of continuous improvement – and the faster an enterprise goes through this cycle, the faster it can innovate, adapt and accelerate its digital business.

Last month, the company released its Apigee Commerce APIx platform, a new software accelerator designed to help companies selling products online jump-start their API-powered digital commerce initiatives. The company also provides its Apigee API Exchange for Telecommunications, an interoperability platform that unifies APIs from disparate operators, enabling developers to easily build industry-wide highly engaging apps.

Apigee is based in San Jose, California. As of May 25th, Apigee reported over 300 customers, up 114 compared to a year earlier. For its 2016 third fiscal quarter ended April 30, 2016, Apigee total revenue of $23.5 million, at the high end of its guidance range of $22.5 million to $23.5 million. Q3 16 total revenue was up 36% compared to $17.3 million in Q3 15.

“We’re excited about adding Apigee to Google,” said Diane Greene, SVP of Google’s cloud businesses. “Companies are moving beyond the traditional ways of communicating like phone calls and visits and instead are communicating programmatically through APIs. APIs allow the company’s backend services to talk to the mobile and web-based apps used by their customers and partners. Instead of the doctor phoning a prescription into the pharmacy, they can use an app that talks to the pharmacy through an API. Apigee easily enables this by providing a comprehensive API platform that supports secure, stable, multi-language, dev, test, publish and analytics capabilities.”

Ericsson and Google are partnering to integrated the Ericsson cloud-based MediaFirst TV Platform into the Android TV ecosystem, Google's operating system for the set-top-box.

Ericsson MediaFirst is a software-defined, media-optimized end-to-end portfolio suite for the creation, preparation, management and delivery of next generation pay-TV to any screen with an immersive TV viewing experience.

The companies said the integration of Ericsson MediaFirst TV Platform with Android TV will provide an additional pathway to extend MediaFirst cloud-based TV services, including 4K-UHD live TV channels, video-on-demand, catch-up TV and cloud DVR to an even wider subscriber base.

"By expanding our range of set-top box options, we are giving Ericsson MediaFirst TV customers the opportunity to deliver cutting-edge, large scale video services and respond to the surge in adoption of smart devices, broadband connectivity and cloud-based delivery," said Shiva Patibanda, Head of Business Line TV Platforms, Ericsson. "Our partnership with Google will empower operators of all sizes and resources to take control and leverage multiple monetization and partnership opportunities offered by Android TV, enabling them to deliver experiences to their audiences that fully integrate their Pay TV services with Android TV applications and OTT services."

Nokia announced new capabilities for its Flexi Zone portfolio of small cell radios aimed at boosting performance and simplifying deployment in ultra-dense networks. These include:

25 new frequency band and radio access technologies (RAT) variants of the Flexi Zone Multiband BTS

eight frequency variants of the Mini-Macro BTS portfolio

3G support in two frequency bands for the compact Flexi Zone Micro (the Flexi Zone micro and indoor pico BTS in the US 3.5GHz CBRS band, made commercially available in June, are the industry's first mobile network solutions to support this new band)

Nokia is doubling its LTE-U bandwidth support to 40 MHz on the Flexi Zone Multiband BTS range, to further enhance LTE-U small cell performance by up to 33 percent.

Mark Atkinson, head of the Small Cell Business Line at Nokia, said: "We continue to boost the performance of our Flexi Zone portfolio to smooth operators' deployment of much-needed capacity into their networks. This will allow them to prepare for the ever-growing demands of people and IoT, particularly in dense megacities. The future introduction of Nokia MulteFire technology will mean many more enterprises will be able to deploy their own discreet networks to enjoy the benefits that LTE will offer. The new Self Organizing Network (SON) features will allow companies, who may not have technical expertise in this field, to deploy small cells with ease."

Nokia has defined a "4.5G Pro" step as an intermediary point on the path to 5G.

Nokia 4.5G Pro, will be powered by the Nokia AirScale radio portfolio, promises major increases in LTE capacity, coverage and speed, including ten times the speeds of initial 4G networks.

Nokia said this new LTE performance tier will make it possible for operators to offer gigabit peak data rates.

Nokia 4.5G Pro will leverage extended carrier aggregation techniques across up to five frequency bands. Operators will be able to leverage their diverse paired (FDD) and unpaired (TDD) licensed spectrum as well as unlicensed spectrum, in line with local national regulations, supported by the upcoming generation of user devices.

Nokia 4.5G technology leverages techniques such as aggregation of up to four carriers, advanced radio modulations techniques and network based IoT connectivity to boost LTE capabilities and help operators address these challenges. While 4.5G Pro focuses on the 2017 user device ecosystem and 5G-readiness of the network, deployment in the future of Nokia 4.9G will bring significant capacity and data rate enhancements and network latency reductions to let users maintain a continuous 5G service experience complementing 5G radio coverage.Nokia is also planning for "4.9G", which will further increase capacity and speeds to several gigabits per second, including allowing additional numbers of carriers to be aggregated, opening the door to additional licensed and unlicensed spectrum, and advancing the radio systems to allow highly directional antennas to be used and to allow signals sent via multiple transmit / receive paths to be added together. Furthermore, it will utilize cloud-based networks with intelligence added to the edge in order to reduce latencies to less than 10msec.

"While the ever-connected world of people and IoT drives huge data demands, the speeds enabled by 5G will be a colossal step in operators' network evolution. However, with our 4.5G, 4.5G Pro and 4.9G technologies, we will provide a smooth evolution path that will allow them to increase capacity and improve the user experience while creating new revenue opportunities," stated Samih Elhage, President of Mobile Networks at Nokia.

Intelsat cited a 165% to 330% increase in spectral efficiency with ground platforms and modem technologies; and up to a 300% improvement in throughput using next generation antenna technology with its new EpicNG high-throughput satellite (HTS) platform.

The company said its testing also confirmed that the Intelsat EpicNG platform exceeds performance expectations transmitting to and from a flat-panel antenna designed for a new class of small remotely piloted aircraft.

Specifically, since late March 2016, the first of the Intelsat EpicNG satellites, Intelsat 29e, has been carrying new and transitioning networks, as well as being used in next-generation tests.

“Given the insatiable bandwidth demands of businesses operating around the world, we designed Intelsat EpicNG with our customers’ needs front and center,” stated Stephen Spengler, Chief Executive Officer, Intelsat. “Our design goal, focusing on efficiency and thus optimizing the throughput to the individual network users, has delivered immediate operating efficiencies for our customers. Our customers in the enterprise, mobility and wireless infrastructure sectors are using Intelsat EpicNG, in most cases with existing hardware, transitioning seamlessly onto our high performance network. Bottom line, our goals of higher performance, better economics, and simplified access are being proven in operational customer networks. Intelsat EpicNG will support our customers as they expand their businesses into new applications and geographies to realize their long-term growth objectives.”

Intelsat 33e, the second of seven planned Intelsat EpicNG high throughput satellites, was launched successfully from French Guiana aboard an Ariane 5 launch vehicle.

Intelsat 33e, manufactured by Boeing, will bring high throughput capacity in both C- and Ku-band to the Africa, Europe, Middle East and Asia regions from 60°E. The satellite will join Intelsat 29e, the first Intelsat EpicNG satellite, which was launched in January 2016 over the Americas and North Atlantic Ocean region, to form a high throughput overlay to Intelsat’s fleet of enterprise-grade, wide beam satellites.

“Intelsat 33e marks another significant milestone as we continue our ‘epic’ journey toward meeting our customers’ needs for higher performance, improved economics and simplified access to satellite solutions,” stated Stephen Spengler, Chief Executive Officer, Intelsat. “Our first high throughput satellite, Intelsat 29e, is already in service and exceeding our customers’ expectations in the Americas. With Intelsat 33e, customers operating in EMEA and the Asia Pacific regions will now be able to leverage Intelsat EpicNG’s differentiated capabilities and greater efficiencies to grow their businesses and deliver enhanced value to their customers.”

The first of the Intelsat EpicNG high throughput satellites was launched successfully from French Guiana aboard an Ariane 5 vehicle.

The Intelsat 29e (IS-29e), which is the first of the EpicNG satellites, combines high throughput Ku- spot beams in the Americas to meet broadband demand for carrier-grade telecom and enterprise connectivity as well as Atlantic Ocean and Caribbean coverage for dense aero and shipping routes. It also offers a transatlantic Ku- wide beam overlay and provides efficient broadcast capabilities for in-flight entertainment. C-band wide beam provides full South American continent coverage for media distribution. Boeing served as prime contractor.

“Today’s launch represents a truly ‘epic’ moment in communication’s history, as we begin a new era of high throughput satellite services for our customers,” stated Stephen Spengler, Chief Executive Officer, Intelsat. “This is a testament to the innovation and creativity of the Intelsat team who envisioned the Intelsat EpicNG platform nearly four years ago. Through design expertise and a deep understanding of our customers’ requirements, the Intelsat EpicNG platform will deliver high performance, improved economics and simplified access that will expand the addressable market for our solutions.”

In 2012, Intelsat first unveiled its EpicNG platform -- a new approach to satellite and network architecture utilizing multiple frequency bands, wide beams, spot beams and frequency reuse technology. EpicNG will be the company's next generation of satellites, promising higher throughputs and lower cost per bit. It will be a complementary overlay to the company's existing constellation of satellites and global IntelsatONE terrestrial network.

Asia-Pacific Telecom (APT) has selected Ericsson for its nationwide 4G LTE network in Taiwan. The agreement includes LTE RAN, Evolved Packet Core equipment and services such as network rollout, network design and optimization, integration and training.

APT was founded in 2000 and belongs to Foxconn Technology Group, the world’s largest Original Equipment Manufacturer. APT has 1.7 million mobile subscriptions of which 4G users account for approximately 70 percent.

Håkan Cervell, Head of Ericsson Taiwan, says: ”We are pleased to partner with APT to bring Ericsson’s proven technology leadership to their business. Our consumer studies show that network performance is the main driver for mobile phone users’ loyalty. With the introduction of 4G/LTE and continuous optimizations of APT’s networks, customers will experience superior voice quality and faster speeds on their smartphones.”

Connected2Fiber, a predictive AI SaaS company for the networking industry, raised $1.12 million in venture financing in a new funding round that was led by Nauta Capital.

Connected2Fiber, which is based in Boston, uses data science, artificial intelligence and predictive analytics in a cloud-based system that helps B2B telecom network suppliers identify their best customer prospects, and B2B network buyers identify their best suppliers.

The company said its platform enables users to visualize critical information internally, and to ensure network intelligence is exchanged securely to conform to the customers' buying process. The system intelligently correlates new events that drive incremental demand to the industry, as well as continuously profiling locations and companies with proximity to the fiber networks. Connected2Fiber's customers are primarily fiber based network operators. There are over 2,500 suppliers, 50,000 intermediaries and 10M B2B buyers in the US alone. Connected2Fiber solves the fragmentation and complexity that today limits adoption.

MapR, which provides a Converged Data Platform for distributed processing, real-time analytics, and enterprise grade requirements across cloud and on-premise environments, announced the appointment of Matt Mills, previously president and COO, as chief executive officer and board member. Mills joined MapR after 20 years at Oracle, most recently leading the NA business while serving on the company’s executive committee.

Company founder and previous CEO John Schroeder will assume the role of executive chairman.